28 years on and still counting the accolades

Mark Pinkstone/Former Chief Information Officer of HK government

Next week will mark 28 years since China regained sovereignty of Hong Kong. And since then, the future of Hong Kong has been tested time and again by adversaries hell bent to secure its failure. They all failed.

This can be attributed to the unity of Hong Kong people, the rule of law and good governance.

Almost weekly Hong Kong success stories unfold in international studies and comparative analysis. Only last week the University of Hong Kong was ranked 11 out of 1,500 higher education institutions world-wide for its academic reputation and citations per faculty by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) academic experts. The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Science and Technology were also ranked 32nd and 44th respectively. The Education Department said the rankings reflected Hong Kong’s “attractiveness as a hub for international talent.”

Also last week, Hong Kong has been ranked the third-most competitive economy in the world, advancing two spots from last year, according to the 2025 World Competitiveness Yearbook released by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

And this week, the often named the “Oscars of the Aviation Industry,” Skytrax announced that Hong Kong’s own, Cathay Pacific Airways performed well, winning multiple titles, including the best economy class 2024, the cleanest airline, as well as 5th in the overall airline rankings.

The accolades just keep rolling in. The IMD Yearbook 2025 ranked Hong Kong 6th in the world for economic performance, a massive jump of its 36th placing in 2023, and 7th place for its infrastructure, up six points from its 2023 ranking.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said Hong Kong’s scores, both in overall terms and in many specific areas, have improved, showing that the Hong Kong SAR Government’s policy course is the right one, with various policies already yielding clear results.

Highlighting that the city ranks second globally on government efficiency, he said this reflects the inherent excellence and competence of the city’s civil servants and indicates that policies designed to make the government more result-oriented are bearing fruit.

In addition, noting that Hong Kong also ranks second globally on business efficiency, Lee said this reflects business leaders’ positive views of Hong Kong’s competitiveness and of its strengths, including the rule of law, a simple tax system and low tax rates, and the free flow of capital, information, goods and talent.

Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO) in Beijing, Xia Baolong, said at the opening ceremony of a forum marking the national security law’s fifth anniversary on June 21 that the law was the city’s “guardian,” adding that Hong Kong should use the rule of law to safeguard “high-quality development.”

The implementation of the national security law over the past five years has demonstrated that it is a “good law with significant historical and practical importance,” he said.

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Algernon Yau, said in an RTHK interview that the influx of non-local firms to Hong Kong has accelerated in recent months despite the sweeping tariffs imposed by the United States, demonstrating continued confidence in the city.

In the interview which marks the 28th anniversary of the SAR’s establishment, as well as the first three years of Lee's administration, Yau said Hong Kong has attracted 319 companies to set up shop in the SAR during the first five months of the year, with the firms' investment in the SAR totalling HK$26.5 billion, along with the creation of 6,500 jobs.

The tariff war has done nothing to slow the trend. While the government's investment promotion agency InvestHK has attracted 223 foreign businesses to expand to the SAR for the first four months of the year, the figure suddenly rose by another 96 in May alone – representing a 43-percent jump on the overall figure for 2025.

But we must not be complacent nor rest on our laurels. Xia and other speakers at the forum warned that foreign forces, particularly the US, are still lurking in the background to undermine Hong Kong’s successes with an aim to dismantling the one country two systems concept of governance.

Mark Pinkstone

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

Washington-based Foreign Policy magazine has been quick to point out that the Wang Fuk Court fire confirmed that the city’s “once prized freedom have vanished.”

How the magazine in it’s December 2 edition came to this conclusion is anyone’s guess, but it is indicative that anything untoward in Hong Kong is seen as politically motivated and a bad thing.

The fire, a great tragedy in Hong Kong that claimed 159 lives and many still missing, has left the city in mourning. And yet, the American press continues to use the opportunity to lambast Hong Kong as it struggles to come to terms with the devastating tragedy. It is a time for sympathies, not political gain… but that is the American way.

Foreign Policy editor James Palmer said local authorities responded to the fire by stifling civil society aid efforts and detaining critics. According to Palmer, since the 2019 protests and the imposition of “draconian” national security laws, no public institution in Hong Kong can operate freely. “Democratic mechanisms have been gutted, and political candidates must now adhere explicitly to Beijing’s line. The city’s response to the fire has confirmed Hong Kongers’ fears that the city’s political culture is now indistinguishable from that of the mainland,” he wrote.

Such comments are coming from a magazine that is popular in the halls of the US Congress and Senate. This and other foreign news coverage of the fire, prompted the Hong Kong SAR government to issue a statement that external forces were making false and defamatory remarks about the government’s post-disaster follow-up and investigations, as well as stirring up trouble and maliciously attacking the disaster relief efforts, as they “harbour malicious intent”. The Office for Safeguarding National Security also condemned a “small clique of external hostile forces” for “stirring up trouble and taking advantage of the chaos.”

One woman has been arrested over a fake donation website for the Tai Po fire victims and others have been detained for making false claims about the victims whom they claimed were “harbouring grave sins” and “got their retribution.” Others have been questioned by police for unbecoming behaviour towards the victims.

But Palmer writes Police dismantled grassroots fundraising efforts and donation sites and replaced them with state-approved efforts. So says somebody more than 13,000 kilometres away.

Hong Kong people responded in their usual fashion, with compassion and within a short period some HK$1 billion had been raised for the victims. Food, clothing and blankets were also donated by a caring public.

What Palmer means is again anybody’s guess. If he is referring to Beijing, he is sadly mistaken. All efforts relating to the fire were Hong Kong’s efforts. Beijing did offer to help and had fire tenders on the ready at the Shenzhen boundary.

Chinese President Xi Jingping offered his condolences on behalf of all the Chinese people indicating the care the central authorities in Beijing have towards Hong Kong.

The city’s response to the fire was remarkable as more than 2,300 firefighters and medical personnel were involved in the operation, which included one firefighter killed and 12 others injured.

It is writers like Palmer who give Hong Kong a bad name for the sole purpose of sensationalism and political sway. But, unfortunately, their publications are read as 丶being authoritative in the corridors of power and impact on Sino-Anglo relations, an never ending frustrating situation.